


Ayakashi

by Junpaku_Karasu



Category: Bleach, Danny Phantom
Genre: Crossover, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-09
Updated: 2016-05-09
Packaged: 2018-06-07 07:27:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,011
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6793954
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Junpaku_Karasu/pseuds/Junpaku_Karasu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              
<p></p><blockquote>
  <p>Then his world is filled with stars. Hanging, shining, the only light in the obsidian sky stretching above. Strange how the stars gave such little light, but he can still see his surroundings, a field of grass stretching endlessly, each blade encased in a layer of ice. Silence fills the air until, suddenly, a voice speaks from behind him, “Konbanwa, Daniel-san.”</p>
</blockquote>Danny's accident with the portal leads to him getting Shinigami powers rather than Ghost powers. Bleach/DP world fusion.
            </blockquote>





	1. Hang Your Tears in the Night Sky (Shine Like a Star Remix)

**Author's Note:**

> Finally posting this on here after years of my muses abandoning me. This is a fic that I formerly only had on my livejournal. I wanted to touch it up a bit before posting anywhere else, hopefully it's a bit better than it was...

The figure of a teenage boy quietly slips down the stairs of his home, the rest of the occupants asleep in their rooms. Earlier that day, his parents had finally succeeded in finishing their life's work, the Fenton Ghost Portal, a device that would pierce through the very fabric of existence into the realm of spirits. But it didn't work, and the crestfallen Fentons abandoned their project at last. So now, their son Daniel Fenton enters the basement, his parent's disappointed faces in his mind's eye, and enters into the gaping mouth of the inert portal in hopes of fixing it.

Looking back to this moment, Danny always thinks to himself 'I should have left it alone' but he didn't and that decision has haunted him ever since. The events linked to this decision would change Danny forever... For, while inside the machine, Danny trips and falls against the main switch which was for reasons only known by the mind of Jack Fenton was _inside_ the machine, the portal awakens, filling the basement with fey light as Danny's own world goes dark.....

 

Then his world is filled with stars. Hanging, shining, the only light in the obsidian sky stretching above. Strange how the stars gave such little light, but he can still see his surroundings, a field of grass stretching endlessly, each blade encased in a layer of ice. Silence fills the air until, suddenly, a voice speaks from behind him, “Konbanwa, Daniel-san.”[1]

Whirling around, Danny sees a man standing there. He has long, white hair and piercing green eyes and is wearing a black outfit with dark blue samurai-style armor over his upper body.[2]

“Ummm...Who are you?” Danny timidly asks. The man smiles softly and replies,

“I am one who will be very important to you from now on. A 'partner' you might say. When you awaken from this inner world of yours you will find me with you, but in a rather different and unexpected form I might say. It is important that you remember this, and that you remember my name. For without my name, you cannot wield me as you should. So remember my name: Genzou[3].”

“Gen-zou?,” repeats Danny.

“Yes.” The man smiles again and then turns and looks into the sky. “It is always evening here... The stars always shining. You like the stars, Daniel-san? As do I. So please try not to overcloud them, even if events outside cause you sadness.”

The starlit world fades slowly away as Danny returns to reality.....

 

And awakens into a world filled with blood. All around him, splashed on the walls, on the ceiling, on the floor. He lies in a puddle of it, seeping into his clothes, staining them with crimson warmth. Scattered amongst the scene are scattered pieces of what were once a human being, unidentifiable until Danny notices scraps of cloth, blue and orange.

“Mom... Dad...” whispers Danny, horror reflecting on his blood-smeared face. He begins to stand up when a clatter brings his attention to an object that was lying atop him. A sword lies there on the floor, a katana.

“What...?” Danny picks it up and holds it up examining it. As he does so, a thought, a memory drifts into his mind. “It can't be... Impossible...”

Suddenly, a scream pierces the air, his sister's voice, followed by an unearthly shrieking roar. Both sounds chill Danny's very soul.

“Jazz!!” Ignoring the pain that wracks his body, Danny leaps to his feet and dashes up the basement stairs, leaving the carnage of the lab behind him.

He finds this floor of his home in a state of disarray, but nothing to the scale of that below. Hearing another scream come from outside it in sync with a loud sound suspiciously like concrete being torn up, Danny exits through a massive hole in the side of the house to find a group of... creatures pursuing his sister. Pitch-black bodies marred only by holes gaping through and bone-white masks like grinning skulls, they can only be described as monsters. One of them manages to catch up to the fleeing Jazz and pin her down under it's massive, clawed hand.

Danny finds himself sprinting towards the monster at an inhuman pace, slashing with his sword, unsheathed while crossing the distance. The sword stops partway into the behemoth's arm and becomes stuck.

“Oh, shi-” Danny is flung aside by the creature, crashing down some distance away. Dislodging and throwing the sword aside, the behemoth lumbers towards the new object of his attention, battered and bleeding on the ground.

As he stirs atop the concrete, Danny notices that some ribs were broken by the blow. Before he can focus too much on the pain, however, new pain replaces it as the monster pins him under his massive hand, claws piercing flesh.

“Gyaaah!”

“ _ **Ahh... Shinigami desu. Oishii...**_ [4] the monster purrs, taking delight in the torment of it's prey. Opening its grinning maw, it reveals another mouth within, teeth gnashing with hunger.

Through the haze of pain and distance, Danny hears his sister screaming.

'Jazz.... She's in trouble... 'I have to save her...'

The bleached-bone mask looms closer.

'I can't let her die too....'

The monster lowers it jaws around Danny.

'Like Dad... And Mom...'

Teeth close in around him.

 

Danny doesn't know how exactly he gets free, leaving behind a furious monster with broken teeth as he dashes towards his fallen sword, snatching it up just in time as it catches up to him. He turns around to face it, unsheathing his sword... as jaws close in around it and his arm, crushing his shoulder as they crunch down on him.

“Ghk... No...” As pain, both physical and emotional, begins to crash through him, a voice pierces through, echoing from within.

_"Call out my name..."_

“Gen...zou...” Danny gasps. It's the last thing the creature ever hears.

Icicles shatter through the mask from inside, the creature's body dissolving as the bone-white shards litter the ground and they too disappear into nothingness. Danny turns on shaky feet towards the rest of the monsters, paused at the events that just unfolded, and utters the last words they'll ever hear: **“Don't you dare hurt my sister.”**

A figure steps into the scene of giant spikes of ice melting away and a boy standing among them, wavering on his feet from blood loss and exhaustion.

“Daniel?” Danny looks up blearily in reply to the voice, confusion appearing in his eyes as he does.

“Uncle... Vlad...?”

The man before him is one that Danny knows very well, he is practically a second father after all. But right now Vladimir Masters is standing there, wielding a rapier, in an outfit that Danny has never seen him wear before in his life. A samurai-type outfit, all black except for the sash and under-robe which are white[5]. White as his face with an expression of panic upon it, Danny notes before his legs give way... And he is caught and held upright by Vlad.

“Daniel, please, you must tell me. Where is your mother, Daniel? Where is Maddie?” Vlad implores, his voice as shaky as Danny's hold on consciousness.

“Dead,” is the reply, barely above a whisper. “Mom... and Dad... They're both dead...”

“What??” Vlad inhales sharply. “Are you sure? Are you sure, Daniel? Answer me, Daniel.”

But Danny is unable to reply to Vlad's pleas as he finally loses grip on the waking world and slips into the darkness of oblivion, teardrops glistening down his face.

 

* * *

 

 

The black of unconsciousness is replaced by the stark white of a hospital ceiling. There is a fleeting moment of disappointment that it isn't a sky of stars his eyes open to before it is interrupted by a voice beside him.

“You're awake!” Danny looks over to the source to see his sister Jazz lying in the bed beside him, apparently engaged in the task of reading a large psychology tome until now.

“Jazz... You're okay...”

“I'm fine, thanks to you carrying me out of the house after the explosion, little brother.”

“...Explosion?” Danny asks confused, Jazz looks at him worriedly.

“You don't remember? You did hit your head pretty hard... maybe I should ask the doctors to give you a MRI...”

“I'm sure there's nothing to worry about, Jasmine, I'm sure it will all come back to him eventually.” Vlad Masters enters the room, dressed impeccably in a black Armani suit and carrying a cane. “Daniel already received one, as is typical for head trauma, the results came out fine,” he continues, calming Jazz's impending panic.

Danny gazes at the man before him as the memories of him in that strange outfit, carrying a sword surface in his mind. 'Was it all just a dream?' he wonders. 'No... It was too real to be a dream. But why does Jazz think it was an explosion, then?' His thoughts are interrupted when Vlad addresses him.

“It's good to see you awake, my dear boy. I will admit, I was beginning to worry. You were the one with the worst injuries. It was exceedingly brave of you to rescue Jasmine in the shape you were in.”

A vision of the monsters enters Danny's mind suddenly. Their white skull-masks and glowing eyes. Their appetite for human flesh. The remains of his parents flash through his mind.

“Are you alright Danny?” his sister asks, her voice laden with concern as she watches tears fill her brother's eyes.

“Mom and Dad... They're... They're dead...” Danny whispers. An unreadable look flashes through Vlad's eyes, unnoticed by Danny with his downturned gaze.

Suddenly, arms envelop him as Jazz embraces him. They both allow the tears to fall together in mourning of their lost parents as Vlad stands solemnly watching.

 

* * *

 

 

The day of the funeral was far too cheerful for the event taking place. Bright and sunny with cute fluffy clouds in the sky.

' _Isn't it supposed to rain during these?_ ' thought Danny morosely as the preacher carried on about 'In a Better Place' and 'Commend unto the hands of the Lord' to the gathered.

Vlad stood behind him, hand on his shoulder for support, as Jazz held his hand, crying into a handkerchief. Danny himself hadn't cried since that time. It was as if all his tears had run dry in that one outpouring.

Tucker and Sam stood a small distance away, giving them some privacy but still lending support. They had both visited the hospital later the same day Danny had awoken. Tucker confided in Danny that he was about to skip school to see them but Sam had stopped him. Sam threw back that they needed to take notes for Danny so he could catch up, so they couldn't skip, even to visit him. Jazz agreed. Danny wished they had skipped so he would have an excuse for not being caught up.

After they were dismissed from the hospital, Danny stayed with Tucker's family and Jazz with a couple who were friends with their parents.

Thankfully, Tucker was glad to keep things as normal as possible and he and Danny spent their time playing videogames, allowing Danny to keep his mind off things for a while, though Danny did catch concerned glances from time to time. Just as thankfully, Danny and Jazz were allowed time off school before the funeral for the arrangements. Vlad Masters did most of the work, however, occasionally asking Jazz and Danny for ideas on small things like which flowers and which gravestone they thought best. Danny wasn't sure if he could handle school just yet, the looks the Foleys gave him were bad enough...

Vlad is called to the podium to give a final speech about the Fentons and their life and his friendship with them and how lucky he was to have it. Danny hardly pays attention.

Then the speeches were over and Jazz and Danny were allowed to approach the caskets to lay down flowers atop them and give their final farewell. Then the caskets are lowered into their graves. Empty caskets. Empty as Danny's heart now feels.

The funeral is over and guests begin to leave, filing past Danny and Jazz and Vlad, giving condolences along the way. Aunt Alicia, who made the trip all the way from Arkansas for her sister's funeral tells the children they can come and visit the rhubarb farm whenever they want. The Mansons offer usual polite condolences and Sam gives Danny a hug before she leaves with her parents. The Foleys also give their condolences but much more sincere than the Manson's and leave as well, Tucker laying a supporting hand on Danny's shoulder as he goes. Danny is surprised to see the popular girl Valerie Gray there with her father Damon and barely manages to utter out a thank you in reply as they file past. The Arakida couple[6], who Jazz had been staying with, offer their condolences rather formally and accompanied by a bow, but Danny and Jazz know it is heartfelt, the couple had been very good friends with the family for a long time. They thank them and return the bow.

 

Finally all the guests are gone and Vlad leads them towards his limo. They settle in and the driver is ordered to go to the hotel for a luncheon full of quiet remembrances... 

* * *

 

The sun shines merrily in Karakura town as Jazz Fenton and her younger brother, Danny, arrive in front of a small apartment building in their taxi.

“Welcome to our new home!,” exclaims Jazz, much-too-cheerfully.

“Hn,” Danny replies, the effects of jet lag clearly visible as his sister drags him into their new Tokyo home, a year after their parent's deaths and a few days after leaving the home of their guardian Vlad Masters.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for killing your parents, kiddos. It was for a good cause, I swear.
> 
> [1]“Konbanwa, Daniel-san”: “Good evening, Daniel.” note: The suffix -san denotes respect. It is often translated into “Mr.” but that really doesn't seem to fit right here... (I loathe translating Japanese suffixes anyway.)  
> Also, I wished to accentuate the fact that he is speaking Japanese.  
> [2]Danny's zanpakutou spirit is dressed more like an 'ashigaru', an infantryman rather than decked out in full samurai armor.  
> [3]'Genzou' [幻像] means 'Phantom' ;D  
> [4]“Ahh... Shinigami desu. Oishii...”: “Ahh... A Shinigami. Delicious...”  
> Shinigami: lit. 'Death God'  
> [5]There was much debate over whether Vlad should be wearing a shihakusho (Shinigami uniform) since he probably shouldn't be... because of reasons. But in the end I've decided that he will be wearing one.... because of reasons. >.>  
> [6]The Arakidas are a pair of Japanese ghost hunters/spiritualists who moved to America to study the ghosts there and became good friends with the Fentons. They'll probably never show up again and pretty much exist to give a reason for Danny and Jazz's knowledge of Japanese.


	2. Joker Up My Sleeve

The sun rises on Karakura Town, accompanied by the beautiful melody of birdsong and the cries of a teenager being awoken by a giant ghost dog.

“Gyaaah! Get off me Cujo!!” Daniel Fenton struggles under the weight of the tail-wagging beast. Finally, after finishing his morning greeting, Cujo reverts to his smaller size and jumps off, leaving Danny covered in drool.

“Looks like you need a shower, little brother,” Jazz giggles as she surveys the scene.

“Bleh, no kidding.”

“I'll put your change of clothes in there right now. Don't take too long, remember, you have to take your entrance exam today.”

“Thanks, Jazz.”

One shower and a change of clothes (and a breakfast) later, Danny is free of drool and walking down the streets of Karakura with his sister.

The two pass by a small shop, where the two children sweeping the front pause in their duty (or at least the girl was actually sweeping while the boy was pretending to play baseball with the broomstick).

“ _Well that's something you don't see every day_ ,” comments the red-haired boy to his black double-ponytailed companion as the siblings walk by, a floating puppy trailing behind them.

 

Exhausted from the testing, Danny splits ways with Jazz as she goes to the market for dinner supplies. Danny returns home the same way they took that morning, once again passing the little store.

This time, a man exits the store as he passes. He is wearing a dark green jinbei with a black haori coat, a green and white striped hat over his messy blonde hair, and carrying a cane and fan. There was something else besides his strangeness that put him off-guard, he just couldn't place it...

“ _My, my. It really is true, a little puppy floating in midair!_ ” exclaims the man, waving his fan over his grinning face, half-hidden by the shade from his hat. “ _Is he yours?_ ”

Danny was planning to walk right past this obvious weirdo until he utters these words, stopping him in his tracks. He glances at Cujo, walking in midair behind him and looks back at the grinning maniac before him.

“Ahh, ye- _Hai, he is mine._ ”

“ _Aah, how interesting. It has been a long time since I've seen an inugami and his inugami-mochi._ ” [1]

“Eh?” Danny questions, but the man continues.

“ _...But I have never seen an inugami-mochi that is also a shinigami,_ ” the man finishes, tilting his hat up so one grey eye glances from the shadows. Danny stiffens in surprise, causing Cujo to pause in his play.

“ _Who are you? How do you know that?_ ” he asks warily as Cujo hovers by his master, sensing his tenseness.

“ _Ho_ w _? I saw your reiraku._ ” Suddenly, Danny is surrounded by white ribbons coming out of the ground, waving in an invisible breeze. A red ribbon appears before him and the man grabs it. “ _See? Red for Shinigami._ ” He has to jump back as Cujo leaps between him and Danny in his giant form, taking the man's move as a threat against his master.

“Cujo, heel!” Danny commands. Cujo backs off to sit back at his master's side, still in his large form. Danny reaches up to scratch behind his ear to calm him. 'Probably shouldn't attack this guy right now, he hasn't shown himself to be a threat... yet.'

“ _He is very protective,_ ”comments the man from his safe distance, still waving his fan over his face, not seeming very unnerved to have just been attacked by the (now) large dog.

“ _He is_.”

“ _Well then... I suppose now is a good time to answer_ _who_ _I am, since you seem so very suspicious of myself._ ” The man closes his fan and uses his cane to lift the brim of his hat to show his face. “ _My name is Urahara Kisuke, proprietor of this humble shop._ ” Urahara points his fan at the store's name above the door (which Danny can barely read) in a grandiose manner. “ _The wares of which include: delicious candies (Try our famous_ “Space Candy” _!), various household goods, and also..._ ” Urahara covers his face with the fan. “ _Shinigami supplies._ ”

Danny blinks at this revelation. 'Well, that explains a lot of things...'

“ _I see..._ ” he states aloud.

“ _Would you like to come inside to browse our humble wares,”_ the shopkeeper asks hopefully. “ _...?_ ”

“ _Danny_ Fenton[2]. _Not at the moment, sorry. I need to get home._ ” Danny rubs the back of his neck. “ _My sister will probably ruin dinner if I am not there._ ”

“ _Ah! Is your sister a shinigami as well?_ ”

“ _Hm? No, she isn't a shinigami-_ ” Danny pauses as he realizes what he just revealed. He knows his situation isn't normal; shinigami don't come from normal, living humans and normal souls aren't allowed in the mortal realm.

Urahara speaks up, the fan still covering his grin, but his eyes peering at him calculatingly. “ _I was right, it seems... You aren't a typical shinigami, are you?_ ”

“Uh... _Aah! I gotta run! My sister is probably burning dinner right now! Goodbye!_ ” Danny dashes off down the street, Cujo bounding behind him, most likely thinking “Ooh a game! How fun!”

“ _How very interesting,_ ” comments the shopkeeper, watching them run away into the distance.

 

“Are you okay Danny? You seem a little distracted,” asks Jazz during dinner.

“Just nervous about school tomorrow.”

'Among a few other things...' thinks Danny to himself. 'That guy probably is a shopkeeper, but he definitely isn't telling the whole story. Albrecht[3] told me himself that only 'Knights of high stature' can see Soul Ribbons. And I feel a **lot** of spiritual energy around him. He's hiding something... I just hope it won't turn out to be anything bad...'

“'Night, Jazz. I'm going to bed.”

“Goodnight, Danny. Remember to set your alarm.”

“Yeah, I will.”

Danny is getting into his pjs when an ominous feeling fills him.

'Damnit! It's a hollow!' he curses silently as he hastily stuffs objects under his blanket to make a human-shaped lump. 'It's not close, luckily...'

Turning out the lights, he then shifts to his shinigami form and phases through the wall in the direction he senses the presence, Cujo following closely. Dashing over rooftops, he reaches the source... just as it disappears.

'Crap, it vanished. Did it leave or did... Wait, I sense a shinigami, guess that answers it.'

Danny leaps to the street and hides behind a corner wall just as a orange-haired boy in shinigami garb carrying a smaller girl in pajamas dash out of a giant hole in the side of a building and off opposite the way Danny just came.

“Well, I guess that was a waste of time...” Danny sighs. “C'mon Cujo. Let's get back home.”

As Danny runs back the way he came, he never notices a certain shopkeeper watching him from a distance.

 

The next morning, Danny is walking to Karakura High for his first day of school and passes by the small shop. And is immediately assailed by the voice of it's (insane ~~ly sexy~~ ) owner.

“ _Good morning, Fenton-san!!_ ”

'Joy.' thinks Danny dryly as the man walks out of his store towards him, hiding his grinning behind his fan.

“ _Ahh, where is your doggie, Fenton-san?_ ”[4] asks Urahara, looking around.

“ _With my sister,_ ” Danny answers honestly.

“ _Can she see him?_ ”

“ _Yes._ ”

“ _Good, good. A person with enough spiritual pressure to see ghosts is a favourite target for hollows._ ”

“ _I know,_ ” replies Danny and then looks the man straight in the eye as he continues. “ _And I also know about about those ribbons, even if I cannot see them myself... Because only someone of a high level is able to._ ”

Urahara doesn't bat an eyelash at Danny's revelation, in fact, his grin only grows wider and he waves his fan over it.

“ _My, my... You are knowledgeable, Fenton-san..._ ” The man pauses and so does the fan. “ _Since we seem to be exchanging knowledge, I will inform you of something I know about you, Fenton-san..._ ” Danny stiffens as the man continues.

“ _I myself know that a normal shinigami has no living relations, which I am sure you are aware of due to your fleeing the previous day. Nor does he attend the local high school..._ _But no need to worry about what I know, I won't tell a soul~!!_ ” Danny sweatdrops at the sudden cheeriness of the last sentence.

Urahara then continues more seriously, the grin vanished though the fan remains, “ _There is something you should be aware of, Fenton-san... There is another abnormal shinobi besides yourself. The orange-haired boy you saw last night, in fact._ ” Danny glares at this revelation.

“ _Are you stalking me?_ ” he asks, unnerved.

“ _Not at all, Fenton-san!_ ” Urahara waves his fan in a placating gesture. “ _I was merely curious as to what had you running around so late in shinigami garb!_ ”

“ _So you were stalking me._ ”

“ _Maa maa... let's not bicker over details, there is something important you should know._ ” the fan returns to the face. “ _His name is Kurosaki Ichigo and the young woman with him is Kuchiki Rukia, both are shinigami and both are attending your school._ ”

“ _What?? How??_ ” Danny panics at this news, as Urahara continues.

“ _Not to worry, Fenton-san. Kuchiki-san is a true shinigami who gave all her abilities to Kurosaki so she is the one to look out for. Keep your head low around her. And Kurosaki has the spiritual sense of a rock. So no worries about him!_ ”[5] he declares cheerfully.

Danny absorbs this information, 'I'll have to be careful around them then... I don't want this to leak out further...' Danny sighs and bows politely to Urahara, surprising the man.

“ _Thank you for the information._ ”

“ _It was nothing,_ ” Urahara replies.

* * *

“ _It's true!! A Yakuza sumo-wrestler with a bazooka came to my house and blasted a hole in the wall!!_ ” declares a red-haired girl to her friends.

'...So she's the one that was attacked yesterday... What a strange mind...'[6]

The girls declare that there's no way that her story can be true and she's being silly as usual and the girl's name is revealed to be Orihime.

The homeroom teacher, Ochi Misato, comes in and everyone settles down. She calls roll and then asks Danny to come to the front to introduce himself.

“ _Pleased to meet you._ ” Danny bows to the class. “ _My name is Daniel Fenton. My older sister and I have just moved here from America._ ”

 

“ _Hey, American boy! Do you have any plans for lunch?_ ” greets a boy with brown meduim-length hair.

“ _Ahh, no..._ ” replies Danny. '...American boy??'

“ _Then come have lunch with me and my friends! Come on, I'll show you where to buy lunch!_ ” the boy then drags Danny off.

Danny and the boy, Asano Keigo he eventually learns, reach the roof where he and his friends are having their lunch.[7]

“ _Hey guys, mind if we join you? I brought the American boy with me._ ”

“ _Hey, Keigo. Hey umm... American boy?_ ” Ichigo asks questionly at Danny's new nickname.

“ _Haha. Danny Fenton,_ ” he answers.

“ _Eh? Chad's not here?_ ” Keigo asks, looking around for the apparently absent friend.

“ _Nope,_ ” answers Ichigo.

“ _Oh yeah... I haven't seen him,_ ” says the other, a baby-faced black-haired boy.

“ _That's weird. Where'd he go?_ ”

“ _Hello, Fenton-san!_ ” greets the black-haired boy.

“ _You can call me Danny if you want._ ”

“Okay, _Danny then. I'm Kojima Mizuiro. This guy here is Kurosaki Ichigo and the girl over there is Kuchiki Rukia._ ”

“ _Whoa!_ ” Keigo (over)reacts dramatically. “ _If it isn't the beautiful new transfer student Kuchiki-san!! Why are you here?!_ ”

“ _Ichigo asked her out_ ,” answers Mizuiro.

“ _Idi... No, I..._ ” sputters Ichigo.

“ _What?! Ichigo??_ ” shouts Keigo and then he pats the mentioned boy on the shoulder and gives him a thumbs up. “ _Good job!!_ ”

“ _Ahh... Yeah... So happy you're crying..._ ”

“ _Hello, umm..._ ” queries Rukia.

“ _I'm Asano!! Welcome to this place of men!!_ ” he salutes (still crying). “ _Awesome! We got both of the new kids!! (Though Ichigo's catch is better.) Today's lunch is a party!!_ ”

“ _With coffee, milk, and bread?_ ” answers Ichigo dryly.

“ _Shut up!! It's the spirit that counts!_ ”

 

Suddenly, Keigo is kicked in the back by a hulking bully, looking for a fight with Ichigo, which Ichigo is willing to grant. The guy, whassisname, (Danny isn't really paying attention, having decided to help Rukia with a drink box she seems to be having trouble figuring out, earning her eternal gratitude) pulls out a brass knuckle... and gets knocked into next week by a guy that makes him look like a pipsqueak. He turns out to be the missing Chad and it turns out he was late taking a person to the hospital who hit him with a motorcycle. Chad barely has a scratch from the incident, nor from the previous night where apparently an I-beam fell on him.

'What's this guy made of??'

The giant boy then takes a cage from off his back and sets it down. It contains a cockatiel.[8]

“ _Hello! My name is Shibata Yuuichi!_ ” chirps the bird. “ _What are your names?_ ”

“ _Danny,_ ” he answers without thinking.

“ _Nice to meet you, Danny-oniisan!_ ” answers the bird back, shocking Danny.

'Ah, crap, he's a ghost,' thinks Danny.

“ _Wow! He speaks so well! My name is Asano Keigo! Can you say 'Asano'?_ ”

“ _Chad..._ ” says Ichigo, looking unnerved. _“Where'd you get the parakeet?_ ”

“ _...Yesterday..._ ” Chad begins. “ _...........I got it._ ”

“ _Hey!! You decided not to tell because you were too lazy, didn't you?_ ” accuses Keigo. “ _That's a bad habit! Tell us!_ ”

'Hm...' thinks Danny as Keigo bickers. 'It looks like Ichigo and Rukia have noticed at least. Those two will probably take care of it. Saves me the trouble of finding where this guy lives if Ichigo already knows him...'

School finally ends, much to Danny's relief. 'Man it's such a pain learning in a different language... Especially when I don't have the writing down quite yet.'

 

“ _Hey, Danny. Want to go do something? Mizuiro and I are going out on the town,_ ” Keigo asks Danny as he leaves the classroom.

“ _Ah, no thank you. My sister and I are still unpacking at home._ ”

“ _Awww... I wanted to hear an American do karaoke,_ ” he pouts on his way out the door.

“ _Hey, are you okay with Keigo?_ ” Ichigo asks Danny. “ _He's not bugging you is he?_ ”

“ _No problem. I have a friend like him back home._ ” Danny rubs the back of his head. “ _So I am used to stupidity like his._ ”

“ _Hn... Stupidity is definitely the word. See ya._ ”

“ _See ya._ ”

 

 

Danny is nearly home when he is met by Urahara outside of his shop.

“ _Good afternoon, Fenton-san!_ ”

“ _...You_ _are_ _stalking_ _me,_ ” Danny answers bluntly.

“ _Maa maa... That's no way to answer someone who helped you earlier today. So, how was your first day at school? Was my information helpful in any way?_ ”

Danny sighs. “ _Yes, it was. Thank you for warning me about the two, I would not have been as prepared if not for that._ ” he admits.

“ _You are quite welcome, Fenton-san! Is there anything else I may assist you with? Perhaps you would like to purchase something, a kiokuchikan or a gikongan perhaps?_ ”

“ _A what?_ ” Danny asks, confused.

“ _Ah! You don't know? A kiokuchikan is a replaces a human's memories-_ ”

“ _With what their mind considers the most likely event_ ,” continues Danny. “ _I know that one, though not by that name. I do not know what a gikon-_ thingy _is._ ”

“ _I see..._ _A gikongan is a replacement soul used by a shinigami to remove a body's soul. It was originally used to remove unwilling souls from their corpses, but it can also be used by a shinigami like yourself to remove oneself from their own body._ ”

'Well that sounds interesting... Though I definitely don't need it.[9]'

“ _Haa... To tell you the truth Urahara-san, I really do not have the money at the moment to spend on things that are not a necessity._ ”

“ _Then you could work for me!!_ ” the shopkeeper announces cheerfully.

“ _No way,_ ” Danny bluntly replies.

“ _How mean! Whyever not?_ ”

Danny decides to be truthful, “ _Because I do not trust you._ ”

“ _Is that so?_ ” replies Urahara, grinning behind his fan. “ _And why is that, may I ask?_ ”

“ _There is something you are hiding._ ”

Neither the smile nor the fan disappear, but something in his eyes is different as Urahara replies to Danny's statement, “ _You are very perceptive, Fenton-san..._

 _But are you not hiding something as well?_ ”

Danny glares at the grinning man and walks off without another word.

 

 

The next day, Danny makes it to school without running into the man. Sitting at his desk, he reads over his textbook and notes while waiting for class to begin as are many other students.

Just as the bell rings, Ichigo bursts through the classroom door, demanding to know if anyone's seen Chad. He runs off when he finds out he isn't there, passing the teacher as she enters.

“ _All right~! Everyone get seated!! Time for fun, fun Modern Literature!_ ” Ochi-sensei says cheerfully, then she realizes Ichigo just dashed past her out the door. “ _Hey!! Where are you off to, Kurosaki?!?_ ” she calls after him.

“ _Sorry, got a stomachache!!_ ” he cries out as he dashes away.

“ _What's with him? Did he eat a poisonous mushroom that makes people run around?”_

“ _Dunno..._ ” replies Keigo. “S _eemed like he was looking for Chad..._ ”

Ochi-sensei sighs and scratches her head and then says, “ _Oh... Okay!_ ”

“ _It's okay?_ ” questions Keigo.

“ _He'll show up eventually! Roll call!_ ”

'Damnit, something's going on,' thinks Danny, frustrated. 'But I can't just leave, I'm bad enough in this class already. Curse you Ichigo.'

Danny begins the class on his second worst subject made even worse with a bad mood that lasts the rest of the day. His feeling is compounded by his sensing a hollow while stuck in school and hating not knowing what's going on even while he tells himself he really shouldn't go or else he'll blow his cover.

Finally, the day ends and Danny is fed up enough that as soon as he's out of sight of anyone, he transforms into his shinigami form and takes off in the direction he senses the hollow energy. Halfway there, it disappears from his senses and Danny heads home, cursing under his breath.

 

Meanwhile at Urahara Shouten...

“ _Hmm... I missed him today..._ ” mutters a certain shopkeeper. “ _What shall I do for fun now_?”

 _Urahara Kisuke. Favourite hobby... annoying people._ [<3]

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [1] 'inugami' literally translates into “dog-god”, it's the spirit of a dog with terrible powers, contolled by its 'inugami-mochi', “Dog-god posessor”. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inugami  
> [2] The Japanese give their names opposite but foreigners don't have to flip our names around for them. I was actually corrected of this by Sensei, lol.  
> [3] Can you guess who Albrecht is? The fact that he's a Knight should be a clue... Which are the western equivalent of shinigami, btw. ;)  
> [4] Wan-wan is the japanese word he's saying here, which is highly hilarious. XD  
> The sound of a dog barking, btw. The word used for 'puppy' previously would probably be 'inu-chan', '-chan' being a diminutive suffix.  
> [5] Reading the manga, I'm guessing that Rukia has lost the ability to sense spiritual energy along with her Shinigami powers. She has the spiritual sense to sense a hollow herself beforehand and afterwards she seems to always use her cell-phone detection device instead.  
> [6] Haha, Hime-chan really is very silly. X3  
> The strange mind comment is about how, with the shinigami memory modification, the person's mind replaces the real memory with what they consider the most likely. At least, that's my theory.  
> I mixed two translations for her sentence, the Viz (which kinda sucks) and an online one. And a little bit of what I remember from the anime... It's one of my favourite scenes. <3  
> Besides all the Urahara ones. <3<3 X3  
> [7] Where you actually aren't allowed in real life, I've heard, but pretty much every manga artist in existance that writes a school setting has lunch eaten there. Maybe it's because they all wish they could have. XD  
> [8] Also known as a parakeet apparently. XD  
> He is called this the whole manga, lol. Apparently, neither Kubo-sensei nor the Viz translators know a budgie from their backside. XP  
> [9] On Danny's shinigami form: he can switch right into it, kinda like he does with his ghost form in the show, unlike Ichigo who has to leave his body. So a gikongan is useless to him.  
> In other words, his kishi converts straight into reishi and back. (The substance that makes up the physical world (molecules then?) converts into what makes up the spiritual world (ectoplasm then? XD)


	3. Attack of the Body Snatcher

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last of the repost chapters.  
> English will be the language italicized from now on, to save me from having to italicize everything. D8

' _Another beautiful morning walking to school. Past the weirdo's shop again... Maybe I should start using a different route..._ '

“Ohayo Gozaimasu, Fenton-san!!”

Danny glances towards the shop as the greeting of the said 'weirdo' fills the air. And notices Kuchiki Rukia, his shinigami classmate, at the shop with him, stopping him in his tracks.

' _Crap, the shinigami-girl's there with him._ ' Danny notices a mischevious glint in the shopkeeper's visible eye. ' _Don't you dare you bastard!!_ '

“Have you met, Kuchiki-san... A Shinigami like you are??”

'Damnit!!!' Urahara appears to be immune to the deathglare now directed at him as Rukia reacts to the information.

“Uso!! He's a shinigami?!”

“Yes indeed. Saw it with mine own eyes.”

“How the heck?! I knew he had high spiritual energy but-”

Danny finally decides it's best just to make a run for it. Glancing down at his watch, he feigns surprise and cries out, “Aah!! Look at the time!! If I don't run I'll be late for school!! Ja ne!!” and dashes for dear life.

“Get back here, you!!” Danny is already far down the street. “...He runs fast,” she comments in awe.

“Well, I am sure Kuchiki-san will catch up with him later. Now what was it you wished to purchase?”

 

Danny has three periods safe from Rukia but full of nervous dread of her eventual appearance.

' _Damn that shopkeeper..._ '

Ichigo and his friends are in the back of the class, gathering around the large boy, Chad, and his cockatiel, now missing the ghost inhabiting it. As Keigo tries and fails to get the bird to say idiotic phrases about him looking like Ewan McGregor, the dreaded arrival appears.

“Good morning everyone!!” she greets in a (fake) cheerful voice. Danny decides to attempt to hide behind a textbook.

After greetings are exchanged back, Rukia asks Ichigo for a word.

' _Oh crap, she's gonna tell him now..._ '

Ichigo refuses... and receives a punch to the gut.

“Are you all right, Kurosaki-kun?! Oh no! I'll have to take you to the nurse's office!” she exclaims as she drags him by the head towards the door. Glancing over his textbook at the scene, he meets Rukia's smiling deathglare as she addresses him, “Come and help, Fenton-kun!”

' _Goddamnit._ '

 

“So... You're a Shinigami,” Rukia confronts him in the school courtyard with a now-conscious Ichigo.

“Whaat?!” cries Ichigo, pointing. “He's a Shinigami?!”

Danny stays silent, crouching against a railing as Rukia continues in her interrogation, “Is Urahara right in thinking you're like Ichigo here?”

' _Her real attitude is really different from that fake one..._ ' thinks Danny to himself.

“Really?? Like me?? No way!!”

“Eh? What do you mean by that, Kuchiki-san?” Danny questions, buying time. ' _Should go with that answer? What if she asks for details?_ '

“I mean, did a Shinigami give you their powers in an emergency situation like I had to with Ichigo? Or are you a real Shinigami? You'd better answer.”

“Anou... Hai, aah... Yes, my powers were given.” Danny rubs the back of his head nervously. ' _Well, that is pretty much the truth, they_ _were_ _given to me... Just not by a Shinigami... Hmm... An emergency...?_ '

Danny's train of thought is interrupted by more questions from Rukia, “Really? Where are they now? What was the situation?”

' _Damnit. Wait a sec... the best way to stop this now is to... But do I really want to?... No choice. If she digs any deeper I might get in trouble..._ '

“The situation was...” Danny raises his head, looking Rukia straight in the eye and bracing himself internally before he continues, “Both of my parents were eaten by hollows and my sister was about to be eaten next.”

Rukia's eyes widen and Danny looks away, realizing he wasn't quite prepared for what he just did.

Ichigo speaks up from besides him surprisingly quiet, “Your parents... were eaten by hollows?”

Danny glances over to him and he sees the honest concern marking his face, quelling the spiteful comment that was bubbling to the surface.

“Yes...” he answers quietly, gripping his knees closer, half-mindedly playing with the goggles around his neck. ' _And there was blood everywhere, the air was thick with the smell of it, and I could barely tell my parents remains, they were ripped to shreds, only tatters left and fragments of bone left by the feeding frenzy and-_ '

Danny's dark train of thought is interrupted by Rukia's voice, “Wait... Hollows, as in plural?? What were so many hollows doing there?” Danny snaps.

“Because I turned it on!!” he yells aloud before he can stop himself, clutching his head in his hands.

“Eh??”

Danny doesn't have the presence of mind to notice who spoke aloud at that moment, too busy quelling the tremors trying to wreak his body while at the same time attempting to think his way out of the mess he threw himself into. ' _DamnitDamnitDamnit, why'd I say that damnit??_ '

Eventually he manages to calm himself down enough, and grips his knees tightly and takes a deep breath before beginning, “My parents were scientists that were very interested in ghosts and spirits. One day... they made a machine that they hoped would create spiritual energy for study. However, when they completed it, it refused to work. They were devastated, it was their life's work. So... after they went to bed... I went down into the workroom and I... I managed to fix it. And then I... I... Then I...”

' _Turned the portal on and brought forth my parent's demise with my own hands.... All my fault..._ '

Danny sinks so deeply in these dark thoughts that he barely registers Rukia changing the course of the conversation by showing Ichigo what she bought for him at Urahara Shouten. Until she starts beating him up.

“So what if I like bunnies?!” Rukia yells, stomping Ichigo on the head.

“...I just didn't understand your explanation...”

“Try it! You'll understand the situation if you try one!”

Ichigo follows her advice and takes a pill from the... duck-headed pez-dispenser-type... thing.

' _Is that_ “Soul Candy” _written on the side?_ '

Ichigo swallows the pill and a moment later, his soul bursts out of his body.

“I really did come out!!” he exclaims, his body now draped over the railing beside him.

“Surprised? Fu fu fu...” chuckles Rukia. “Also, nobody will notice you left, since the temporary soul has already entered your cast-off shell!”

“Ooh!”

Seeming to take this as a cue, Ichigo's body begins to stand up... And it salutes and exclaims in a cheerful voice, “Nice to meet you! My name is Kurosaki Ichigo! 'Early to bed, Early to rise,' that's my motto!”

' _That's the scariest thing I've ever seen,_ ' thinks Danny to himself as the body laughs cheerily and Ichigo freaks out. His rant to Rukia is interrupted, though, when her cellphone beeps.

“Hm?” She removes it from her pocket to read the screen. “It's an order. Perfect! Let's leave it to him and get over to the scene.”

“Are... Are you stupid??”

“Don't worry! I'm sure Fenton-kun can help out! Can't you, Fenton-kun?”

“Oh yeah... Oi, Fenton, will you be okay?” Ichigo asks concernedly.

Danny smiles reassuringly (if not a little sadly) before he answers, “I'll be fine.”

“See? He'll be fine!” Rukia grabs Ichigo by his uniform and starts dragging him off. “Stop complaining and let's go!”

“Hey, 'me'! Better not cause a scene!” Ichigo calls back while being dragged away.

“Leave it to me, Master!” the fake soul exclaims cheerily as he waves and laughs.

Danny sighs and stands up, dusting himself off. “Hey, you.”

“Yes, Master?” the fake Ichigo replies cheerfully.

Danny twitches and continues, “Classroom 1-3 is our class. Do you think you can find it okay?”

“Are you going somewhere, Master?”

“Haa, somewhere. Tell them you have no idea where I am.”

“Yes, Master!”

“...And you should try and tone down that cheeriness. Ichigo is not very... genkigenki[1] like that.”

“Yes, Master, I'll try!”

“...Whatever... See you.”

“Goodbye, Master!”

“And tone down that cheerfullness!” Danny half-shouts. 'Creepy...'

“I'll be right here practicing, Master!”

Danny is far out of sight when all cheerfullness drops from the fake Ichigo's mood.

“Take your time...” he says, somewhat darkly.

 

Meanwhile at Urahara's...

“What shall we do, manager?”

“We have no choice.” Urahara replies to his employee, Tessai, “We've got to find it and stop it before it causes any trouble. Who knows what it will do... having gained a human body.”

[Dundundundun!!!!!!!]

 

* * *

 

Danny manages to avoid getting caught up in the happenings of the day until the late afternoon, spending his day in shinigami form, atop a large building. He sits there, playing with the goggles around his neck, Genzou laid besides him, as he stares into space, lost in thought.

His reverie is broken by the voice of a certain meddlesome shopkeeper.

“Ah, there you are, Fenton-san!!”

“ _Go to Hell,_ ” Danny replies coldly, glancing back to deliver a deathglare with one cold blue eye, pausing Urahara for a moment.

A moment later his grin is back on his face as if nothing happened and he continues, “Maa, maa, Fenton-san, I just need a small bit of your time...”

' _Fat chance._ '

“You see... Kurosaki-san and Kuchiki-san had a bit of trouble with the Gikongan I sold them... So now I need your help tracking down Kurosaki's classmates to erase their memories.”

“...What?” Danny blinks in surprise. “What happened?”

“Ahh... Well...” the man scratches his chin somewhat nervously and continues, “We accidentally sold Kuchiki-san a defective product. If you want the details, you should probably ask those two, by the time we arrived, the situation was under control. So I agreed to erase the memories of the witnesses... However, school had ended by the time I arrived.”

“So you need my help finding our classmates...”

“Bingo! Help in that form if you wish to avoid contact with them, all I need is for you to point them out.”

Danny glares at the idiotically grinning face, before sighing and raising to his feet. “Fine... You have my help.”

 

Several memory modifications later, Danny has the general idea of the events that occurred from overheard conversations, while Urahara stays sketchy on what it was about the artificial soul that made it defective.

Soon after Danny left him alone, the soul leapt up to the window of their classroom on the third floor, where all the class's girls and several boy students were eating lunch and caused a scene.

'Wasn't that exactly what Ichigo told it not to do?' Danny thinks dryly.

It seems that he kissed Inoue Orihime, considered the hottest girl in class by most of the boys... and Arisawa Tatsuki, the class's resident tomboy and martial arts queen, who proceeded to wreck the classroom in response. The fake Ichigo then fled at the appearance of Rukia (and probably Ichigo too) straight out the window again. Tatsuki got in trouble for the mess, until the girls stuck up for her and said a stranger broke into the classroom and Tatsuki was trying to protect everyone.

“That's good,” declared Urahara. “It means there's a good base for the new memory to form around.”

They eventually track everyone down and finish the job. Urahara thanks Danny for his help and once again asks him if he would work for him, which Danny once again declines.

Danny is so exhausted by the job that he doesn't think before he turns back to his human form, much to the surprise of the older man.

“ _Ahhh... This is not normal... Riight..._ ” Danny stands there sweating under Urahara's stare until, “Ja ne!!” he dashes off full blast away from the shopkeeper.

“He does that far too often...” Urahara comments to himself. “I'm beginning to get annoyed.”

 

The next day, Danny finally takes an alternate route to school that doesn't take him past Urahara's shop. He knows he can't avoid him forever but he really can't stand to see the man at the moment, both nervous about what he revealed to him in his exhaustion and angry at him for the revelation to Rukia.

The classroom that morning is still abuzz with talk about the stranger that invaded the school and was driven off by Tatsuki. Then Ochi-sensei entered and the talk reluctantly ceased as class began, with Danny lamenting being even further behind than before.

 

“Oi! American Boy!,” greets Keigo at lunch, still refusing to give up on the nickname he's given Danny. “Where were you yesterday?”

' _Oh crap..._ '

“Its a love triangle with you and Ichigo vying for Rukia's attention isn't it?” he continues.

' _Then again, Keigo's an idiot..._ '

“I told you that's not it!!” yells a flustered Ichigo in reply.

“That is not it,” agrees Danny.

“Ooh, it's a threesome then.”

This comment earns Keigo a simultaneous kick from both Ichigo and Danny.

“That's not it either!!” they yell together.

“Then what is it?” asks Mizuiro. “All you've told us is what it's not, but not what happened.”

“Err... Well...” stalls Ichigo as he and Danny frantically think of an explanation. Danny is the first to come up with one.

“A bunny.”

“Eh??”

“Kuchiki-san saw a bunny plushie at an arcade and wanted it so badly, she had us get it for her.”

“And it took all day?”

“Yes.”

“Wow, you really love bunnies, Kuchiki-san.”

“Hee, hee. Yes, I do.”

 

After school ends, Danny, Ichigo, and Rukia venture forth on a noble quest to find a bunny plushie worthy of a day-long battle to obtain it. Eventually, their quest yields fruit and the 'Bunny Plushie Worthy of Battle' is being carried in Rukia's arms after being paid for by Danny, earning her eternal gratitude.

Danny follows Ichigo to his home, having been invited to study with him.

 

“Tadaima!”[2]

“Ojamashimasu”[3]

“Hey Yuzu, this is Danny. Alright if he stays over for dinner? I'm gonna be helping him study tonight.”

“Oh, okay, Ichi-nii. Danny-san, we're having oyakodon[4] tonight, is that alright?”

“Ah, yes, that is fine, Yuzu-san.”

“We're gonna get started studying then, c'mon Danny.”

Danny is led upstairs to Ichigo's room, marked with a plaque bearing the number '15' and the two study together for a while until they are called down to dinner by Yuzu where Kurosaki Isshin, their father, proceeds to be his usual crazy self.

“Oh, Masaki! Your children no longer respect their dear father!,” he laments to a giant framed poster of his late wife, sporting a bruise from his fight with Ichigo.

“Nobody would respect a father like you,” mutters Karin.

 

“Sorry about my dad, he's a bit of an idiot.”

“It's alright... My dad was pretty crazy too. Not in the same way but still... it means I am pretty much used to things like that...”

Suddenly there is the sound of a door sliding and a voice speaking up.

“Moushiwake gozaimasen deshita!”[5] apologizes Rukia in a seated bow... inside Ichigo's closet. “I have behaved rudely and insensitively earlier and I must apologize for this.”

“...” Danny is shocked into silence by her sudden and unusual appearance and apology but then recovers. “Ah... It is quite alright Kuchiki-san... You did not know...”

“You apologize too, Ichigo.”

“Eh?? What for? You're the one who did everything. Anyway, I'm helping him study for the classtime missed because of all this.”

“Anou... I hate to interrupt but...” Danny turns to Ichigo “What is Kuchiki-san doing in your closet?”

“I dunno, she's the one that decided it without asking.”

“Where else would I stay? Also, this way I can inform Ichigo when we have orders.” she replies, holding up her cellphone.

“Ah... I see...”

“You know...” Ichigo begins, holding up the pill holding Kon within it. “We should really figure out a way to get at this guy for causing us so much trouble...”

“Like find him a body? Sounds creepy.”

“Well, not a human body... (like we could find one anyway) maybe a dog or cat hit by a car or something...”

“...That's still really creepy...”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [1] 'genkigenki'' happy-dappy  
> [2] Tadaima: 'I'm home”, 'I'm back'  
> [3] Ojamashimasu: 'Excuse me for disturbing you', greeting said upon entering someone's home  
> [4] Oyakodon: kind of a japanese version of chicken and rice soup. I kinda felt sorry for Yuzu-chan having Danny come over kind of at the last minute so I gave her something quick and easy, haha. ^_^;  
> [5] ' Moushiwake gozaimasen deshita' is a very formal/polite way of apologizing for something done in the past.


End file.
